UAE | Crime

Driver accused of attempted rape at knifepoint

Dubai: A driver has been accused of getting intoxicated and attempting to rape a woman sailor at knifepoint in his bus while driving her to Sharjah.

The 28-year-old American sailor was said to have taught the 21-year-old Pakistani driver a lesson when she beat him before she freed herself and ran away.

Prosecutors charged the 21-year-old defendant, K.S., with consuming liquor, attempting to rape the woman at knifepoint, beating and threatening to kill her.

“It is true that I consumed liquor. I was very drunk so I couldn’t remember what I did on the bus,” argued K.S. when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the defendant exploited the fact that the woman was alone with him in the bus before he changed his route and parked in a sandy and very dark area. He sat beside her and asked to have sex with her. Then he kissed and forced himself on her when she refused his sexual advances.

Prosecutors said the defendant threatened the woman with a knife and asked her to satisfy him before she indulged in a physical fight with him.

Records said the defendant bit the American woman’s hand when she tried to remove the knife from his hand. While they were quarrelling, they fell on the floor. She wound her legs around his neck and managed to free herself and ran away.

The woman testified that the incident happened shortly after she left her ship that was berthed in Sharjah’s Mina Khalid and went on a 24-hour tour of the city on January 19.

“I spent most of the day at the Mall of the Emirates. Then I took the Metro towards Dubai Police Headquarters and was looking for a taxi. I was in a rush as my permit was about to finish so I took the defendant’s bus as it had a sign ‘for passenger transport’. Ten minutes later he changed his route and stopped… he tried to rape me, but I resisted him fiercely. He threatened to kill me with the knife… he bit, molested and touched me indecently. I outsmarted him and ran away... then I rushed to the ship and informed them what happened,” claimed the woman.

Police arrested the defendant while he was sleeping at his home.

Prosecution records cited the suspect as admitting that he got drunk and attempted to rape the woman at knifepoint.